After taking a walk around my neighborhood and seeing my neighbors watering the road and having the system on at noon, I thought it may be a good idea to talk about how to most efficiently and effectively use your irrigation system.
1. Don’t over water. Grass needs about an inch of rain per week. If you have a system that works with a built-in rain gauge that’s great! If not, a rain gauge costs a couple of dollars, and using this in conjunction with your irrigation system manually can ensure that you are not over watering. It’s better to have a soaking water then several shallow ones. So it’s not necessarily a bad thing to have your system going to compliment a light rain. The root system on your grass is hopefully 4 inches deep (or more) so check to see how deep you are watering.
2. Prevent Runoff After several hot sunny days your soil can become impervious to water. Think of a completely dried out sponge, most of the water runs off at first. A brief water, 5-10 minutes, and then a longer water, with a break in the middle, allows the water to soften the soil so that the water will absorb and not run off into road or driveway. Of course, if your sprinkler heads are not aligned properly, you are watering the road or other things that don’t grow and wasting your water!
3.Timing Matters It’s best to water in the morning. The ground is dewy and more permeable to water. The sun is low and winds are calm. Mid day watering can waste water due to evaporation and wind. Evening or night watering keeps the leaves wet all night which encourages fungi growth. Watering in the morning allows the grass and foliage to dry.
It’s possible to keep your grass green even during the hot months of July and August. Follow the recommendation above and you will be doing it responsibly.